Print & Matter

Print & Matter is an innovative project that has provided Muslims in Birmingham with the skills and a platform to explore connections between religious practice and artistic expression and to become a self-publishing community.

Project Partner: One of My Kind (Oomk)
Project Lead: Sofia Niazi – Artist
Location: Birmingham

Overview

Led by artist Sofia Niazi of One of My Kind, the project has provided a unique opportunity for creatively-inclined Muslims to develop new skills utilising the medium of printing and publishing. They have developed their own arts content and practice through practical workshops, the exchange of ideas in the group and coming into contact with the work and journeys of a range of Muslim artists. Building the confidence to express themselves freely in terms of their faith, they then have presented their work at exhibitions in the community and at national artist book/self-publishing fair, where they engaged in conversations with the wider community.

The Impact

British Muslims face significant barriers to engagement in mainstream cultural activity including a scarcity of creative content, practitioners and role models that reflect Muslim lived experience. The project has created a self-sufficient community of Muslim art makers who can practice independently, drawing on support from each other, and using self-publishing as a medium for creative expression and distribution.